One day to live
by Who were the Precursors
Summary: At midnight on one particular night, Sakura is told by an angel that she has only one day left to live. How will Sakura take this? And more importantly, what will Sakura do on her last day on earth? NaruxSaku, slight SasuxSaku.
1. Prologue

One day to live:

Plot: At midnight on one particular night, Sakura is told by an angel that she has only one day left to live. How will Sakura take this? And more importantly, what will Sakura do on her last day on earth?

Rating: PG (for character death)

Pairings: SasukexSakura, maybe slight NarutoxSakura

Hello readers! I'm back with another Naruto story! This was very spur-of-the-moment, so bear with me.

Prologue:

It had been a long night for Sakura. She had gotten into bed at about 9, but for some reason couldn't fall asleep. She looked at her clock.

"It's almost midnight, and I haven't slept a wink." Sakura groaned. It was 11:47. Nothing of particular interest had happened to this point. However, something would happen very soon that would change Sakura's life forever.

"I suppose I should try to get some sleep." Sakura said lightly, lying back down on her pillow. About ten or eleven more sleepless minutes passed, when Sakura suddenly shot up in bed.

"What…what is this?" She asked in horror. A very bright light appeared in her room. It started moving toward her.

"Go away, please!" Sakura pleaded. The poor girl was crying because she was so terrified. In a moment, the light took on the form of an angel. Sakura's eyes were now full of wonder more than terror.

"Sakura Haruno." The angel said in a simple voice. She now realized it was a man.

"Y…yes?" Sakura asked, still shaking.

"Do not be afraid. I will not hurt you. Sadly, I have some bad news."

"What bad news?"

"The Lord God has sent me to inform you that when the clock should strike midnight, you last day will begin." The angel explained in a solemn tone.

"Wh…what?" Sakura asked, now in a great deal of disbelief. "I can't die! I'm too young!"

"I am truly sorry Sakura. You have done nothing wrong. It is what God has commanded."

At the same moment the clock struck 12, the angel began to fade from view. Sakura jumped out of bed and ran toward the fading light.

"Why?!" She screamed at the fading angel. "Why me?!"

She then began to cry again. She had so many plans for the future, and they had all just been dashed. Sakura figured since it was her last day, she would do all those things she wanted to do, but had never gotten around to, and would get an early start.

End of prologue


	2. 12AM to 6AM

Chapter 2: 12AM to 6AM:

Hello readers! Here is the re-write of chapter 2. I hope it's better. Read and review!

When the angel had completely faded from view, Sakura slinked back into bed.

"_One day left to live._" She thought. It was quite a surprise to her, but she was determined to make the most of her last day. Soon she was in a deep sleep, and a very vivid dream appeared in her head:

"Do you, Sakura Haruno, take Sasuke Uchiha to be your lawfully wedded husband, to care for him through sickness and good health, through good times and bad, 'til death do you part? If so, say 'I do'."

"I do!" Sakura exclaimed. The priest then turned to Sasuke, who had a slight smile on his face.

"And do you, Sasuke Uchiha, take Sakura Haruno to be your lawfully wedded wife, to care for her through sickness and good health, through good times and bad, 'til death do you part? If so, say 'I do'."

Sakura gave a hopeful look. Sasuke looked like he was thinking.

"Well Sasuke?" The priest asked. Sakura was giving him a questioning stare. Before he said anything, the dream faded, and Sakura found herself back in her bed.

"What? No!" She yelled, stretching her arms into the air in hopes that the dream would come back to her. When it didn't come back 10 seconds later, she dropped her arms and then sat up. Crossing her arms on her knees, she slowly turned to the clock.

"4:00." She said sadly. "I've only got 20 more hours to live."

Sakura decided she shouldn't sleep, even though only 4 hours had passed. She hopped out of bed, got into her slippers and headed downstairs.

"Well, the sun isn't up yet, but I'll go sit out on the porch." Sakura said to herself. She grabbed a jacket from her couch, and stepped out onto the porch. There was still a little light in the sky, which surprised her. That wasn't normal at 4 in the morning, but she didn't think much of it.

"Oh, what am I gonna do?" Sakura sobbed, and then began crying again. "This can't happen!"

She fell to her knees and looked upward.

"God, why? What did I do to deserve this?" She screamed to the Maker. "Why?"

Sakura then did something she hadn't done in so long. She folded her hands, and said a prayer.

"Dear God, please allow me to stay alive beyond this day. I ask you this in utmost faith and trust that you will let this happen. Please hear me, God. Amen."

Sakura stood up and looked around. She had the strangest feeling that someone was watching her, but she realized it must've just been her mind playing tricks on her.

"Huh, since I'm not going back to sleep, I'll go take a walk."

Sakura walked away from her house and down the streets of Konoha. It was a little cold out, but there was a nice pre-dawn breeze blowing all around.

"Well, at least my last morning is nice." She smiled. She walked, and walked, and walked some more, until she found her self at one of the Leaf Village's many training grounds. It was now 4:47 in the morning, and to her great surprise, Rock Lee was there training.

"Lee?" She asked.

Lee stopped training and waved.

"Good morning, Sakura." He greeted her. "You're up early. What brings you here?"

"Well, I'm taking an early morning walk." Sakura said, pretending to sound happy. Lee noticed a hint of sadness in her voice.

"What is wrong, Sakura?"

Sakura began tearing up.

"Well, I, um…I'm gonna die."

Lee's eyes were wide open.

"W…what?" He asked in shock.

It was rare for Lee to abruptly stop his training, but he had a good reason to. Sakura sat down and began explaining.

"I couldn't sleep last night. It was…almost midnight. The strangest thing then happened."

Lee looked intently at her.

"All of a sudden, this strange light appeared in my room." Sakura continued. "It turned out to be an, um, an angel."

"A what?" Lee asked. "You actually saw an angel? That is unbelievable!"

"At least, I think that's what it was." Sakura said, now thinking maybe it wasn't really an angel.

"Maybe it was someone playing tricks on your mind." Lee suggested. "It was probably just genjutsu."

As Lee finished talking, his teammates, Neji, Tenten and his Sensei, Gai, walked up.

"Hello Lee, are you ready…for…say, what do we have here?" Gai asked.

"Hello Gai-Sensei." Lee said.

"What's up, Lee?" Tenten asked.

"Sakura's gonna die at midnight."

"What?" Neji asked in disbelief.

"Or, at the very least, she thinks that." Lee said, looking down at Sakura.

"Would you or Sakura care to explain?" Gai asked with a strange look on his face.

Sakura stood up.

"Well guys, it's like this." She began.

And so, Sakura explained everything to Neji, Tenten and Gai. When she was done, everyone looked very surprised.

"I dunno, Sakura." Tenten was the first to speak up. "It sounds like it could be genjutsu."

"That's a possibility." Sakura admitted. "I sure hope so. I don't wanna die."

"Listen up, Sakura." Neji spoke up. "If this starts to get to you, you know you can always talk to us. We're here for you, right guys?"

Lee, Tenten and Gai all nodded.

"Thanks guys." Sakura smiled. "I gotta run. I need to get some breakfast."

"Alright, Sakura." Lee began. "We'll see you around!"

Sakura waved back and continued on her walk. It was now 5:05, so Sakura thought she had just under 19 hours left. She decided to go see if Ichiraku Ramen Shop was open yet. Unfortunately, they didn't open until 6.

"Aw man, what am I gonna do?"

Sakura decided she would wait around for the shop to open. A few people walked by, giving her suspicious glances as they passed, but did nothing else. 50 minutes later, at 5:55, she saw Naruto walking toward the shop.

"Morning Sakura." He waved.

"Morning Naruto." Sakura waved back. As 6:00 came, and Sakura entered what she thought to be her last 18 hours, she decided she had to tell Naruto about what had happened. But could she actually well up the courage?

End of chapter 2

Please read and review!


	3. 6AM to noon

Chapter 3: 6AM to noon:

Hello readers! Long time, no see with this story. Here's a very long awaited update. Please read and review, and pray with me that this story stays as good as it's been for the final 2 chapters (and an epilogue, if I write it). I was going to post this last night, but the site was messing up. So, here it is now.

Ichiraku Ramen Shop opened right at 6:00, just like they always do. Naruto and Sakura were their first customers.

"Good morning Naruto, Sakura." Teuchi greeted the two.

"Morning, old man." Naruto said, sitting in his usual middle seat. Sakura said nothing, but just took a seat to his right.

"What'll you have?"

"I'll just have miso ramen." Naruto grinned. He sure did love his miso ramen.

"And you, Sakura?"

Sakura was staring at her feet.

"You ok, Sakura?" Naruto asked with concern.

"I have something important to tell you Naruto." She said, now looking right at him.

"What is it, Sakura?"

"Um, can we have a little privacy?"

"Sure." Teuchi said. "Ayame, we have to step away for a moment."

"Yes, father." Ayame heeded her father's word, and followed him out.

"Naruto, this is really hard for me to say, so just bear with me." Sakura began.

"I'm listening." Naruto said.

"Naruto, I'm gonna die at midnight!" Sakura blurted out.

Naruto nearly fell off his chair because he was so surprised.

"You're what?!" He screamed.

"Well, that's what I'm lead to believe."

And so, Sakura explained the whole tale of what had transpired last night.

"Wow. Why would this happen to you Sakura? You're so young and sweet…and pretty."

Naruto gave a nervous look after this last statement came out.

"Why do you look nervous? I know you like me." Sakura laughed. Naruto looked relieved.

"Oh, ok." Naruto wiped some sweat from his brow.

"In fact, since this might be my last day on earth, I suppose I should make you happy."

"Wha…?"

Naruto was cut off by Sakura kissing him. 7 seconds later, she broke it.

"S…Sakura?"

"Shh, this will be our little secret." Sakura whispered.

"But…but I thought you wanted to have your first kiss with Sasuke." Naruto asked.

"Eh, I can kiss him later." Sakura shrugged.

"But what if that doesn't happen."

"Oh well. At least I made one person happy." Sakura smiled. And then she leaned close to him and whispered in his ear:

"Now you go make Hinata happy."

Naruto gave a silly grin and then dug into his ramen. Ayame and her father slowly walked up.

"Can we come back now?" He asked.

"Yep." Sakura said.

"Do you want some ramen?"

Naruto then did something most unexpected. He moved his bowl toward Sakura and uttered some slightly shocking words.

"Do you want some of mine?"

Wait, did Naruto just **offer some of his ramen to someone else**? I guess he really does care about Sakura.

"Really Naruto? Do you mean it?"

"Of course!" Naruto exclaimed, giving the thumbs up. Teuchi, on cue, grabbed two chopsticks and handed them to Sakura.

"Wow, you guys are amazing." Sakura said, digging her chopsticks into Naruto's bowl.

"If ya want anymore, I can buy it. Don't worry about that."

"Thanks a lot Naruto." Sakura said, hugging him.

1 hour later…

"Naruto, how do you eat that much ramen?" Sakura chuckled. She was quite full herself, and she felt for sure Naruto had put on a few pounds.

"Years of experience." Naruto laughed, patting his stomach.

"Well Naruto, I must be off. I might only have 17 more hours to live." Sakura said, kissing Naruto on the cheek. She headed off and waved back.

"What does she mean?" Ayame asked.

"It's a long story." Naruto said in a slightly sad tone, and then perked up.

"Can I have some more ramen?"

Meanwhile…

Sakura continued her walk through Konoha. The sun was finally breaking. Sakura sighed.

"This maybe my last sunrise." She said in about as solemn a tone as the angel was talking in 7 hours earlier. As each minute passed, the realization that this could really be her last day was heavy on her. She decided she might as well say goodbye to everyone that was important in her life.

"Well, Sasuke and Kakashi-Sensei are important." Sakura said to herself. "I should go find them."

But Sakura didn't know where they would be. "_Wait._" she thought. "_Kakashi is probably at the book store buying more of his pervy books._"

So Sakura headed over to the book store. It was now 7:10, so the book store was open. When she arrived, as she expected, Kakashi was in the book store.

"Hmm, which one should I get next?" Kakashi asked himself. He was browsing through the latest editions of Icha-Icha Paradise, written by none other than Jiraiya.

"Um, hi Kakashi-Sensei." Sakura said, making Kakashi jump.

"Holy crap!" Kakashi yelled before bashing his head on the ceiling. "Oh, it's just you Sakura."

"Can I talk to you?"

"Can it wait?"

"Um, not really." Sakura said, looking at her hands.

"Alright, what is it?" Kakashi asked, turning his attention from the books.

"Well, sensei. Um, this is really hard to say, even though I've already told a few people."

Sakura cleared her throat. Kakashi was looking right at her.

"I might be, well, dying at midnight tonight."

Kakashi's eyes bulged out.

"Say what?"

"Well, at least, I think so." Sakura said.

"You're…not sure?" Kakashi asked, glancing at the books for a second and then looking back at Sakura. "How can you not be sure?"

"Well, Kakashi, this is what happened…"

And so Sakura had to go through the explanation of what had happened again. Somehow, it seemed like it was getting easier for her to say.

"That sounds far-fetched, Sakura." Kakashi said.

"Lee and Tenten suggested it may have just been genjutsu." Sakura explained.

"Sounds logical. I'm guessing you came over here to tell me this."

"Well, yes, and in case it does really happen, to say goodbye."

At this statement, Kakashi arched an eyebrow.

"You think it might happen?" He asked.

"I can't be sure one way or the other, so I'm just being safe." Sakura said.

"Sakura, listen to me. I don't think you're going to die. The way I look at it, it was just some kid who has nothing better to do than play tricks on unsuspecting people like you."

"But what if…"

Kakashi looked a bit angry.

"Sakura, you're getting too worked up over this whole thing. If you feel you need to say goodbye to me, then by all means do. But please, for your sake, don't go into a panic attack. You would probably hurt yourself."

Kakashi turned back to the books, and Sakura ran up and hugged him from behind.

"Well, I can see that you are taking this seriously." Kakashi said, grabbing Sakura's left hand. "Sakura, you take care of yourself, you hear me."

"I will. You can bet on that." Sakura smiled. She walked away from him and out of the book store. Kakashi stood there for a moment, and then said:

"I sure hope she doesn't die. It would be a terrible loss."

And so, Sakura continued on her way. It was now 7:20. The things she still wanted to do were go to the new restaurant that had just opened 2 days ago, figure out why Ino's flower shop had gone out of business (she never bothered to ask why) and the thing she's wanted to do for so long: Go on a date with Sasuke.

"What should I do now?" Sakura asked herself. She wanted to go to the restaurant, but she wanted to go for dinner, and she wanted to take someone there.

"Maybe I'll ask Sasuke out to dinner there." Sakura said. "But I need to find him first."

Sakura went searching for Sasuke. Where would he be at this hour, she thought. Probably at home. So she headed in that direction.

"I hope he's home." Sakura said. "If not, I might have trouble finding him."

A little while later, Sakura arrived at Sasuke's house. It was now 7:30 in the morning, as Sakura checked her watch. After the Uchiha massacre, Sasuke moved into his own house, and had lived there ever since. Sakura knocked on the front door, hoping that Sasuke would answer it. After many seconds and no response, Sakura began to get concerned.

"Where is he?" She asked. "Oh, maybe he's asleep."

She knocked again, and again, and yet again, but with no answer.

"Oh man, I really need to talk to him. I guess I'll come back later."

Sakura continued walking, and eventually came to the Ninja Academy. Class was in session.

"Oh yeah, there's Iruka-Sensei!" Sakura exclaimed, remembering her sensei from Academy training.

"Oh, but wait, he's probably teaching a class right now." She thought, heading into the building to see where Iruka was. She went into her old classroom, and there was Iruka, just as she expected, teaching a class on self defense.

"It looks like we have a special visitor." Iruka said, stopping for a moment. "Come on in Sakura."

"Thanks. I guess I'll sit in on this class."

"That's great. Maybe you can even give the kids some tips."

"Maybe I will." Sakura said, smiling at the kids. "Oh, by the way, I need to talk to you after this class. When does it end?"

"One hour." Iruka responded.

"Ok." Sakura said, taking a seat.

One hour later…

The clock struck 8:30 as the class ended. The kids filed out of Iruka's classroom.

"You wanted to talk to me, Sakura?" Iruka asked, organizing his papers at his desk.

"Yes, Iruka-Sensei. So far, I've told this to Lee, Neji, Tenten, Gai, Naruto and Kakashi, and so you would think it would be easier for me to say."

"What do you mean, Sakura?"

Iruka looked up from his papers, focusing his attention on Sakura.

"Iruka, I have reason to believe that I'm gonna die at midnight tonight."

Iruka's eyes bulged out.

"Wha…what?"

Sakura (once again) went through the process of telling the story. Iruka was quite surprised.

"And how do you feel about this?" He asked.

"Well, Iruka-Sensei, I don't know quite how to feel." Sakura responded. "Lee's team suggested it's genjutsu."

"It sounds possible. What are you gonna do?"

"Well, I'm doing all those things I wanted to do, but never got around to."

"I see. Well, good luck with the rest of the day, and take care of yourself, alright?" Iruka said.

"I will, Sensei." Sakura said, quickly hugging him before leaving.

"Alright, it's 8:33. 15 ½ hours left, maybe. Oh man, this is really getting to me."

Sakura tried to think of what to do next. She decided to head over to Ino's house to ask her why her flower shop went out of business (and maybe, just maybe to say goodbye).

"Yeah, I'll go there."

10 minutes later, she arrived at Ino's house. The blonde girl wasn't home.

"Huh, that's strange. Where could she be?" Sakura asked. A few minutes of walking later, she came to where Ino's flower shop would be, and, to her great surprise, it was open!

"What the heck?"

Sakura went into the shop and was again surprised to see it was quite busy.

"Wow. I wonder what brought this on."

"Sakura! Hey!" Ino yelled from behind the counter. "What's up?"

"When did you re-open your shop?" Sakura asked, quite confused.

"Oh, I must have never told you. I opened it back up about a week ago. My mom said that it was a mistake to even think of closing down, more less actually doing it."

Sakura smiled a little. She was happy that her friend (or I suppose you could say ex-friend) had decided to re-open her shop.

"That's cool." Sakura said, a smile still on her face.

"Did you need anything, Sakura?" Ino asked.

"Well, I need to tell you something, but you seem busy." Sakura responded.

"Oh, ok."

Sakura walked up behind the counter. As I said, Ino was busy, so I don't think she saw Sakura walking up behind her. Sakura was slowly sneaking up on an unsuspecting Ino. When she was right behind the blonde, she grabbed her and hugged her from behind.

"Sakura, what are you doing?!" Ino exclaimed, catching her customer off guard. "I apologize, but my 'friend' here is acting strange. Sakura, would you please let go of me?"

Sakura hugged Ino for a few more seconds, and then released her. She kissed Ino on the cheek and smiled at her. As she was walking out, Ino spoke up.

"What was that all about?"

"Ask Naruto." Sakura said as she exited the flower shop. When she was back outside, she again had to decide what to do. It was almost 9 A.M., and Sakura's mind was a mess.

"_If I really have 15 hours left..._" She began in her mind. "_...then I really have to make the most of what time I have left._"

Sakura headed downtown to see what she could do there. The mall was open, so she decided to go shopping (big surprise there). Guess she might as well, considering today might very well be her last day.

2 ½ hours later…

Wow, Sakura didn't waste her time (but she may have wasted her money). She came out of the mall with **3 bags full of new clothes.**

"Wow, I didn't know I could spend that much money on just clothes." Sakura said as she walked out of the mall. It was now about 11:30 in the morning, and Sakura still wanted to go to that new restaurant and go on a date with Sasuke. Will she be able to? Only time will tell.

"I'm gonna go get some lunch." Sakura said, looking for a place to eat. Then she saw Dumplings, Inc., whom Anko had told Sakura was a good place for dumplings.

"I'll go there." Sakura said, snapping her fingers. A short walk later, Sakura was there. It was the lunch hour, so she might have a hard time getting something.

"Sakura!" She heard a female voice calling to her. It was Anko, whom she was just thinking about.

"Hey Anko! What's up?" Sakura called back.

"I was just having some lunch, and I saw you from afar."

Sakura took a seat next to the purple-haired woman. She ordered some dumplings like Anko, and was surprise at how good they were.

"_Well, I might as well enjoy this._" Sakura said in her mind, taking another bite.

"You like them?" Anko asked, her face now a mess.

"I love them." Sakura said. She then turned, and noticed Sasuke heading in her direction.

"Sasuke!" She exclaimed. As the clock struck 12 noon, and Sakura maybe entered her final half-day, a hurricane of thoughts were rushing through her head: What to do in these final 12 hours? Who else to say goodbye to? Why was this happening to her? Poor Sakura. Nothing seems to go right for her.

End of chapter 3

Please R & R as usual, and (hopefully) expect chapter 4 soon. It depends on how many good ideas I get.


	4. Noon to 6PM

Chapter 4: Noon to 6PM:

Hello again, my readers! Before you read this fourth chapter, please take a moment to read what I have to say first. Ahem:

1. Sorry for how long this chapter is, and if it sucks. These ideas just kept popping into my head.

2. I actually finished this chapter **a lot** faster than I expected to. As soon as this gets posted, I will begin working on the 5th (and possibly final) chapter.

3. As usual, please read and review. And I ask that you please be constructive in your reviews. Say stuff like "you're an ok writer, but you can improve in some areas", not like "OMG U SUCK LOLZ!"

4. **I warn you. There is some cursing in this chapter, but still within the bounds of the K+ rating.**

5. There is some humor in this chapter, even though this is meant to be completely serious.

Other than that, have fun!

Ding, ding, ding

"Wow, it's noon already?" Anko asked, checking her watch. "Man, how time flies!"

Ouch. Sakura cringed at the very words.

"Tell me about it." Sakura muttered.

"What'd you say, Sakura?" Anko asked as Sasuke sat down.

"Nothing."

"I thought I heard you say something."

"You're walking into a minefield." Sasuke laughed.

"Shut up Anko!" Sakura bellowed, now significantly pissed off. "I said nothing!"

"Ok, sheesh, you didn't need to blow up at me like that." Anko grumbled, now also pissed.

"What a surprise. Two girls arguing about something stupid." Sasuke laughed again.

"Shut up!" They both yelled, nearly knocking Sasuke off his chair.

"Ok, I'm sorry." Sasuke said, righting himself back up and putting a finger in his ear to make sure he can still hear.

"Anyway, these dumplings sure are good." Anko grinned, biting into another dumpling.

"_Wait a minute._" Sakura said in her mind. "_Where did all these dumplings come from? Is she like Naruto in that food seems to appear when she is around?_"

As Sakura pondered this confusing (and yet utterly pointless) situation, something just now dawned on her. Sasuke was sitting **right next to her**, and more so, **she was wasting some potentially valuable time. **_**Ask him now, **_**her mind said.**

"Um, Sasuke?" Sakura spoke up. Sasuke turned around.

"Huh? You say something?" He asked.

"_Yes I did, you stupid...no, no. Calm yourself Sakura. You can do this._"

Sasuke looked quite confused as Sakura pushed her fingers together in a very Hinata-esque manner.

"What are you doing?"

"Oh, this should be good." Anko grinned evilly. She crossed her arms in anticipation of what might happen next.

"What do you mean?" Sakura asked, nervously looking from side to side.

"You're acting like…like…well, like Hinata acts when she's around Naruto." Sasuke said. Sakura wasn't sure if he was insulting her or not.

"What do you mean?" Sakura said again.

"Sakura, what's bothering you?" Anko asked.

"Um, well, I wanted to ask Sasuke something, but I don't know if I can bring myself to do it." Sakura said, sweating a little.

"I'll give you two some privacy." Anko said, throwing some money at the man behind the counter and walking away.

"Sasuke, c-can I ask you s-something?" Sakura stuttered a little. This was seriously the first time in her young life she had even tried to ask a boy out, and trying to ask the one particular boy she had a crush on, on what might be her last day alive, out on a date was incredibly hard.

"What do you want, Sakura?" Sasuke asked, not daring to turn his head to meet her unsure gaze.

"Um, you know, I was j-just wondering if you wanted…to go…"

"If you're asking me out on a date, the answer's no."

Double ouch. Sakura felt like she had just been crushed. Sasuke got up and walked away.

"Hey Sakura!" Anko yelled. "What's up?"

Sakura, as you could expect, said nothing. She was crushed, as Sasuke had rejected her.

"Now what?" Sakura asked.

"Sakura?"

Sakura ran off crying.

"Geez, what did he do to her?"

Anko looked toward where Sakura had just run.

"_What in the world happened?_" She said in her mind. "_I walk away for 30 seconds, and she runs off crying._"

Anko was quite unhappy. She headed in the direction Sakura was going. What did she have in mind?

A little later…

Sakura went home and locked herself in her room. I guess she really was that sad over what had happened.

"Why?" She cried to no-one in particular. "Why did he say no?"

Sakura cried into her pillow. It was 12:30 in the afternoon now, but I really don't think she cared. As she continued to cry her eyes out, there was a knock at the door. Sakura, however, did not hear it.

"Sakura, open the door!" Anko bellowed. Despite her incredibly loud knocking (and yelling), Sakura failed to hear it.

"I guess…I'll just…go do something else." Sakura said, wiping away her tears. She really wanted to take Sasuke to the new restaurant on a date, but I guess that's not how it was meant to happen.

As Sakura stood up, she faintly heard knocking at her door. She must've really not been paying attention, considering Anko was banging so hard she was probably close to breaking her knuckles.

"Now, who could that be?" Sakura perked up, hoping it was Sasuke. When she got downstairs and opened the door, her smile faded.

"Hey there kiddo!" Anko gave a cheery smile. "What's up?"

"Other than a lot of crap, nothing to talk about." Sakura grumbled. Anko noticed her tear-stained face.

"Ok, what happened?"

"It's nothing of your concern."

Sakura turned to go back inside, but Anko grabbed her arm.

"I think it's a lot of my concern." Anko said, now with a firm hold on Sakura's arm.

"What did that emo chicken-ass do to you?"

"How dare you call him an emo…"

Sakura was cut off by Anko swiftly slapping her.

"I have every freakin' right to call him an emo chicken-ass. Now tell me what the hell he did to you, or I'm gonna be pissed." Anko spat, scaring Sakura quite a bit.

"Jesus Christ, Anko! All he did was turn me down for a date!" Sakura exploded. "_Great, I'm wasting my time arguing with Anko. I don't even like her that much._"

"Alright, alright." Anko said, putting her hands up. "Let's stop arguing. I really don't feel like getting pissy with you anymore. Besides, I'm sure you'd like me to beat Sasuke over the head for turning you down."

"No thanks." Sakura said, grinning at the thought. "I really need to get going and do some more important things today."

Anko blinked, and then smiled.

"Yeah, me too. Sorry about all the yelling."

"Not a problem." Sakura said. Anko hugged her and left.

"Hmm, an interesting situation, to say the least." Sakura mused. "Ah well, I have some more things to do, so I'll be off."

Before Sakura left, she entered her bathroom and splashed her face.

"Let's just hope the rest of my day goes well."

Sakura changed into a more comfortable shirt than before, and headed back out.

"Alright, what to do now?" She asked. Before answering her own question, she saw Naruto headed in her direction.

"Naruto!"

"Hey there, Sakura!" Naruto exclaimed, running up to Sakura and hugging her.

"How've you been since this morning?"

"Ah, alright, I guess." Sakura said, looking down.

"Hey, cheer up. I have a feeling that this whole 'you're gonna die' thing isn't real."

Naruto tried cheering Sakura up.

"Oh Naruto, you don't have to say that. Whether I die or not, I can't complain. I've lived a good enough life."

"Yeah, but you can't die." Naruto started. "I mean, why would you? Why would God take you away so soon? It's not fair to anyone!"

Naruto hugged Sakura again.

"I mean, I love you Sakura!"

"I love you too, Naruto." Sakura said, hugging Naruto tightly. "But maybe this is how my story is being written. Maybe it was meant to end like this."

"Don't say that. You should be fighting this."

"You can't fight fate." Sakura said.

"Is this fate?" Naruto asked. "Is it, Sakura? Why would you, of all people, be giving up so easily? The least you can do is keep your head high and try to keep this going."

Sakura was blown away. For being so young, and not being the brightest person, Naruto had a good point. Really, for the first time all day, Sakura felt like she should be trying to fight this. After all, why would she have to die at such a young age? She had so much ahead of her.

"…Thank you, Naruto." Sakura said, once again hugging her orange-clad friend. "It really means a lot to have a friend like you."

"You're welcome Sakura." Naruto said. As I said, Naruto isn't the brightest person you'll meet, but he's very caring, especially when it comes to Sakura.

"Alright Naruto, I need to be going. Thanks a lot." Sakura said, kissing Naruto on the cheek.

"Bye Sakura!" Naruto exclaimed, waving to her as she left. He was grinning.

"Man, I love her."

Sakura once again had to decide what to do next. That seemed to be happening a lot lately, but then again, if you were living what might be your last day, wouldn't you be indecisive about things?

"Oh man, what should I do?" Sakura asked, wracking her brain in an attempt to decide what to do next.

(A/N: Sorry about constantly having this happen. I might be running out of good ideas, so bare with me.)

"Hmm, I've already said goodbye to Naruto, Kakashi-Sensei, Lee's team, Iruka-Sensei, Ino (sort of). So I need to say goodbye to…"

The image of Sasuke rejecting her flashed in her mind.

"Hmm, I don't know about him." Sakura said, having rare bad thoughts about Sasuke.

"After what he did to me, I really just don't know."

Sakura looked around, and for the second time today, she had the strangest feeling that someone was watching her.

"That's weird." She said. She glanced up into a nearby tree, and she could've sworn she saw a pair of eyes.

"What was that?" She asked, but when she looked again, she didn't see anything.

"Great, something else to bother me."

Sakura didn't know it, but somebody was following her. What she also didn't know was she had seen this person before, and was fully aware that he (yes, it's a guy) was there when she first saw him.

"Sakura Haruno…" The voice of the mysterious man trailed off. "I've got my eyes on you."

Who was this mystery man, and why was he following Sakura? She would find out soon.

Meanwhile, Sakura was in the middle of walking, when she had an overwhelming feeling to pray again.

"Whoa, this is a weird feeling." Sakura said. She wasn't exactly what you'd call religious, so praying was hard for her. She usually felt very uncomfortable doing it, but she felt like she needed to. Clear her mind and say a prayer. Maybe it would help her feel better, and maybe, just maybe, it would change what seems to be her fate.

"Ok, if you want me to." Sakura said, looking upward. "I will, but it might take a while."

Somehow, Sakura was expecting a response. When none came, she frowned.

"Alright, here I go."

Sakura breathed in, and got down on her knees. This time, she said a silent prayer. As she was praying, Sasuke walked up to her.

"What…are you doing?" Sasuke asked, quite confused. Sakura was caught quite off guard.

"Sasuke!" She exclaimed, jumping up and grabbing her chest.

"Um, hi." Sasuke said, feeling a little awkward. "Say, about earlier…"

Sakura cut him off.

"What you did earlier was pretty nasty." She said, turning her back to him. Sasuke spun her back around.

"I'm sorry, Sakura. I had no right to do that."

Sakura was quite surprised. Usually when Sasuke did something, he didn't apologize. This time, it was different.

"Sasuke, do you mean what you just said?" She asked, staring right into his eyes.

"Of course, Sakura. Now, about what you asked earlier…well, first of all, do you forgive me?" He asked, still with his eyes fixed on hers.

"I dunno. It can be hard to forgive someone for squashing someone else like you did."

Sasuke looked down.

"But I need to find it in my heart to forgive you. It's that important."

The man that was following Sakura was now in a different tree, watching everything.

"This is amazing." He said. "She is actually able to forgive him, despite what he did to her earlier. I must relay this message."

You can probably figure out who the man is now. If not, what he's about to do will probably tell you.

"Sasuke, I do forgive you." Sakura said. Almost as soon as the words left her mouth, the "man" (ok, I'll say it. The **angel**) shot up from the tree, significantly scaring Sakura, but strangely not Sasuke. Sakura buried herself in Sasuke's shoulder.

"Sasuke, hold me!" She exclaimed, now crying (again) because she was so scared.

"I don't think I wanna know what the crap that was." Sasuke said, looking down at the crying Sakura. He hugged her (gee, that seems to happen a lot).

"As I was saying, about earlier. I have something to ask you."

Sakura, still in tears, looked up.

"You wanna go out with me tonight?"

"Um, where?" She asked.

"Oh, I don't know." Sasuke said. "What place sounds good to you?"

Sakura wiped a few tears away.

"Well, that new place Dynamo's sounds interesting." She said.

"That sounds good. I've wanted to go there too."

Sakura brightened up.

"So, is it a date?" She asked hopefully.

"As long as you're free at 8:00 tonight." Sasuke smiled.

"Of course I'm free!" Sakura exclaimed, hugging Sasuke.

"Alright, I'll pick you up at 7:00."

"Ok."

Sasuke left.

"Oh my God!" Sakura yelled, jumping up and down because she was so happy. "Ok, I'm gonna go back home and pick out something to wear!"

Really, for the first time all day, Sakura was really happy. She headed home to pick out her, well, outfit. In a few minutes, she got home. It was almost 1 P.M., but Sakura didn't seem to be paying attention to that right now.

"Now, to pick out my outfit!"

When Sakura opened her closet, she was greeted by quite a surprise.

"What the crap?!"

It was the angel! He had obviously decided (or maybe he was told) to pay her another visit.

"What do you want now?" She asked. "More bad news?"

"No, actually I wanted to say I'm proud of you, Sakura." The angel said.

"Proud of me? Why?"

"Well, you forgave Sasuke. And I feel like you've spent your day well."

"Well, ok. Did you come here just to tell me that? Thanks a lot." Sakura turned around. "I really wish you would just let me off the hook, and let me live."

"I would love to." He said, looking down. "But sadly, I don't possess that power."

"…And God does. I was actually in a good mood a few minutes ago, but now I'm not."

"If you so choose to be that way, very well. Maybe God will let you off the hook. I can't say one way or the other."

"Well, I wish he would reconsider." Sakura said, trying to push her way into the closet. "I really did have a lot of plans for the future, and I'd hate to know that they had been dashed."

"You sure seem a lot more confident about this than you did earlier." The angel laughed.

"Well, I do wish your luck in your endeavors for the rest of the day."

The angel bowed, and began fading.

"Wait!" Sakura yelled. "What's your name?"

"My name is Gabriel. I will see you at a later time."

The angel faded out of view. Sakura sighed, and then picked out a dress for the date. It was a blue strapless dress.

"I sure hope he likes this dress. This is one of my favorites."

Sakura decided since she really couldn't think of anything better to do, she decided to take a shower.

"Yeah, I'll do that."

Sakura went into her bathroom, which was next to her closet. She proceeded to take her clothes off (A/N: Don't worry folks, we don't see her completely naked. This story is K+ after all).

While she was in the shower, she thought hard about what had transpired in just the last 13 hours, and what might happen in the next 11. She now had plans for the night (well, at least from 7:00 on).

"Ok." Sakura said. You can probably imagine that her day had been pretty crazy. All she hoped for, besides obviously having fun on her date, was for her life to be extended beyond midnight. But she wasn't sure if that would happen, because she seemed to think that Gabriel was real. Still, she was determined to stay positive about this whole situation.

20 minutes later…

Sakura started to wrap up her shower. She turned off the water, grabbed her pink towel and wrapped it around herself.

"Alright, now that that's out of the way." She said to herself. She took her hairdryer off of the wall and switched it on. It came on at first, but died seconds later.

"Oh, come on!" She yelled at the apparently not-recently charged hairdryer. "The least you can do on this particular day is work, you piece of…calm yourself, Sakura."

Sakura stopped, and put her hands up to calm herself down. She didn't want to overreact about anything, because she believed Kakashi's words were true. She shouldn't overreact, otherwise she'd probably hurt herself.

"Now then, since my hairdryer isn't working, I guess I'll just comb my hair…but I bet that I won't find one of those."

Sakura scoured her bathroom for a good comb. It took her a while, but she finally found one, but, of course, it wasn't her favorite.

"This piece of crap comb is the one I find?" She asked in disbelief, getting slightly agitated at the fact that nothing seems to be going her way since she got out of the shower.

"Alright, alright." Sakura sounded defeated. "If you don't want me to have a good rest of the day, I don't really care."

Ok, now Sakura was mad. Less than an hour before, she had **finally** been feeling better about everything, but now she was getting mad again.

"Grr." Sakura groaned as she combed her hair. Since she didn't really have anything to do right now (she was basically lying when she said she had things to do. Don't ask why, but she was just being weird), she decided if nothing else, maybe she would go get some training done. After all, she hadn't really wasted any part of her day (yet).

"Maybe some good hard training will get my mind off…wait a second."

And then a thought dawned on her. Why would she go train…if she had **just moments earlier **gotten out of the shower?

"Oh, craparoni and cheese. Heh, heh heh. I must be in a strange mood." Sakura laughed at what she said. Ok, since that wasn't a good plan, maybe she'd go **watch** somebody train.

"Ok, I guess I'll go do that. Of course, that is if anyone's training."

Sakura went to the training ground that she had gone to earlier. Once again, Lee's team was there.

"Neji, you're so amazing!" Tenten yelled, for some reason thinking nobody was listening. That might be a safe bet, considering Gai was teaching Lee about the importance of youth, and Neji didn't seem to be paying attention.

"Hey guys!" Sakura yelled, snapping everybody out of their seeming trances.

"Sakura, hi there!" Lee waved, turning away from Gai.

"Lee, why are you not listening?" Gai asked. "This speech could change your life!"

"Hi Sakura." Tenten said, stepping away from Neji, who still wasn't paying attention.

"What're you guys up to?" Sakura asked a painfully obvious question, but nobody made fun of her because of forced circumstances.

"Just training, as all." Lee said.

"Cool. You guys mind if I sit and watch?"

"Sure! Watch us train in all our splendid youthfulness!" Gai exclaimed, giving the thumbs up.

"O…k." Sakura said, sweat dripping on her brow.

3…hours…later…

"…Wow, you guys don't seem to know when to stop." Sakura was surprised. "But at least it helped me pass the time."

It was now about 4:30 in the afternoon. To Sakura, it seemed like time was flying by. It was only 2 ½ hours until she would be picked up for her date, and only 3 ½ hours until her and Sasuke would be at the new restaurant, Dynamo's.

"Well guys, I gotta run. I have a date in a couple hours, so I'll be heading off."

"Ooh, who's the date with?" Tenten asked.

"Sasuke." Sakura said dreamily.

"Well, I hope you have a nice date, and I hope the food is good at…where are you going?" Lee asked.

"That new place Dynamo's." Sakura said.

"Dynamo's? Have a lot of youthful fun and goodness!"

Lee gave the thumbs up.

"I plan on it. I hear nothing but good things about that place, and they only opened two days ago."

Gai, Lee and Tenten all waved as Sakura left. When she was out of view, Neji turned around.

"Was somebody here watching us train?" He asked. Tenten shook her head.

Meanwhile, Sakura was heading home to kill a little time before getting dressed and going on her date. When she got home, it was almost 5 (she took her time getting home).

"Alright, what to do for the next hour?"

Before she answered her own question, Gabriel appeared again.

"Hello again." Gabriel greeted her.

"Hey." Sakura said, flopping down on her couch.

"Something wrong?"

"I dunno. Do you have any…updates about my situation?"

"Well," Gabriel began. "I'm being told that there's a chance that your life will be renewed."

"Really?" Sakura asked, springing up.

"Yes. God tells me he's reconsidering what he has done to you." Gabriel informed her.

"That's great." Sakura yawned. "Tell ya what. I might catch a couple z's here before my date."

"Suit yourself. But be aware, your date is in three hours."

"I know." Sakura yawned again. "Good night."

"Good night." Gabriel said, disappearing from view. Was this such a good idea for Sakura to sleep this close before her date?

45 minutes later…

Sakura opened her eyes.

"Huh? Wh…where am I?" She asked. She then was struck by the thought that she may have overslept.

"Oh no! I probably overslept!"

Sakura was now panicking. She ran upstairs to get her dress, assuming that Sasuke would knock on her door any minute. When noticed the clock in her room, she calmed down a little.

"Phew, I thought I overslept." Sakura said, breathing a sigh of relief. It was 5:45, so it was 1 hour, 15 minutes until Sasuke arrived, and 2 hours, 15 minutes until her date.

"Oh wow. I really shouldn't have done that. What if I had overslept?"

Sakura walked into her bathroom, assuming her hair was messy because she fell asleep on her couch. Surprisingly, it wasn't very messy.

"That's good." She said. Suddenly, her stomach began grumbling.

"Ooh, I wish my date was earlier. I'm getting hungry."

Sakura decided to grab a quick bite to eat before her date, so she wouldn't "die" of hunger before the date at Dynamo's.

"Yum." Sakura said happily as she munched on a cookie. When she finished, she went upstairs to brush her teeth. It was now 5:55, and Sakura felt confident that these **weren't** her last 6 hours. I guess what Naruto had said, and more so what Gabriel had said, had instilled confidence in her.

"And God…" Sakura said, looking upwards. "If this is really my last 6 hours, please make it good for me."

Sakura then began laughing.

"But, you know, try and think about letting me live on. Please?"

The clock struck 6:00 P.M. I think wherever he was right now, Gabriel was smiling.

"She really is confident." He said. "Even if my Lord does not reconsider her fate, she seems confident that he will."

End of chapter 4

Wow, what a long chapter! Please read and review!


	5. 6PM to midnight and a twist

Chapter 5: 6PM to midnight (and a twist):

Hello once again! Considering I basically didn't stop writing last night, I finished this chapter much quicker than expected. Before you read this, I must again apologize for a couple things in this chapter:

First off, the lack of detail at certain parts. I really could've put more information about some things, but I didn't think to.

Second, there is a big twist near the end of this chapter. I hope you guys think it's good. It was a little off from what I was planning, so I really hope you guys like it.

At last, but not least, the dream sequence at the end may seem, I don't know, pointless? Sorry, it just came into my head, and it sounded good.

Now then, onto the story!

Sakura decided to kill the next half hour by watching TV. When she shut the tube off, it was just past 6:30.

"Yes, it's time to get dressed for my date!" Sakura gleefully yelled. She tore upstairs and pulled her dress out of her closet.

"Wait, I just have to stop." She said, smiling at her present scene. "I'm actually going on a date with my Sasuke! I just hope I don't make a fool of myself. He'd probably never think of me the same way again."

For the first time in a **very** long time, "Inner Sakura" said something, and for possibly the first time ever, she said something to Sakura.

"_You'll do fine._" Inner Sakura said, unusually calm in her demeanor.

"You think so?" Sakura felt stupid talking to her inner-self, but she kept doing it anyway.

"_Uh-huh. Other people have had their first dates, and they've done fine._"

"Wait, how in the hell do you know about other people being on dates?"

Inner Sakura said nothing, and Sakura sighed.

"Alright, I'll try to keep myself calm during this." She said. "Ooh, I can't believe it's almost here!"

Sakura took her dress into the bathroom and changed there (although I'm not sure why. After all, she does live alone).

15 minutes later…

Sakura was all ready. She was wearing her blue strapless dress, and looked positively beautiful in it ;-)

"I feel…fabulous!" Sakura said, randomly striking a pose. "And only 10-15 minutes until Sasuke arrives!"

Ding, dong

"Wow, that was fast!"

Sakura ran full speed down the stairs, nearly tripping over many things, and got to the door.

"Who is it?" She said in a sing-song voice, figuring she knew who it was.

"It's Anko!"

Sakura's face dropped as she opened the door.

"And to what do I owe your presence?"

"Well…wow, you look nice." Anko complemented her. "Why are you so dressed up?"

"I have a date with Sasuke in just over an hour." Sakura smiled at the very thought.

"Oh wow, you got him to go with you?"

"Well actually, he decided to apologize and asked me out."

"Cool. That's actually why I came over here, to ask you what was up with Sasuke." Anko said, feeling happy for Sakura.

"Yeah, it's all good." Sakura said.

"That's great! Listen, I gotta run. I have a date with Kakashi, and he's probably waiting for me."

"Kakashi waiting for someone?" Sakura asked. "Isn't it usually the other way around?"

"Heh, yeah." Anko laughed. "Tell me how it goes, will ya?"

"Yeah, I will."

"Alright! Later!"

Anko ran off to her date.

"Ok, it better be Sasuke that next knocks on my door." Sakura said, shutting the door.

Ding, dong

"Sasuke?"

She spun back around and opened the door.

"Sas…uke?"

Sakura was confused, because she had never seen Sasuke in a suit.

"You're early." She laughed. "And handsome."

Sasuke's cheeks went red.

"If I'm handsome, then you must be what they call beautiful." He said, making her go red in the face. "And yes, I'm early."

"I thought you were picking me up at 7?" She asked.

"Hey, being a little early never hurt anyone." Sasuke laughed. "Now then, are you ready to go?"

"You know I am."

It was now 6:50 in the evening. Sasuke and Sakura were on there way to Dynamo's, the new restaurant on the complete other side of town. So it would take a while for them to get there, even if they sprinted.

"_This rocks._" Sakura said in her mind. Sasuke was probably thinking the same. At first, he didn't want to go on a date with her. But I guess he changed his mind.

"Are you nervous?" Sasuke asked. Sakura didn't seem to hear him.

"Sakura?"

Sakura then snapped to.

"What is it, Sasuke?"

"Are you as nervous as I am?" He asked.

"You bet I am." She responded. "This is my first date."

"Mine too. This is a whole new thing for us."

Sakura felt a little more at ease, now knowing that this was the first time that Sasuke had ever been on a date too. Sasuke instinctively grabbed Sakura's hand.

"_He's holding my hand_!" Sakura said in her mind. "_I can't believe he's holding my hand_!"

Sakura was full of joy. As they got closer to Dynamo's, she got less nervous. When they finally arrived, it was 7:35.

"Sasuke, we're really early." Sakura sounded concerned.

"Your point?" Sasuke asked. "Maybe they'll seat us early."

"I dunno they might not."

"Will you quit worrying? I'm sure we'll have a good time."

"Yeah, you're right." Sakura said, fighting off a few nerves as they stepped inside the new restaurant.

"Good evening, and welcome to Dynamo's. Name please." The man at the front of the restaurant greeted them. The name of the restaurant may lead you to believe it's more of a casual eating place, but it's actually quite fancy, so Sasuke and Sakura didn't feel out of place in a suit and dress, respectively.

"Uchiha." Sasuke said, and the man began flipping through the list of reservations. It took him a little while, but he found it.

"Ah yes, you must be Sasuke?" He asked.

"Yes sir." Sasuke proudly smiled.

"And who is this lovely person you have with you?"

Sakura looked nervously at Sasuke.

"This is my date, Sakura. **My** date, you got that buddy?"

"Hey now, I know when to keep my distance." The man sounded defensive. "You two have a good time here, and enjoy the food."

"Thank you." Sasuke said, pulling a very nervous Sakura by the hand into the next room. Sakura instantly went from nervous to surprised.

"Wow, this sure is a nice room." She said, noticing right away that there were a lot of tables.

"Well yeah, what do you expect?" Sasuke asked. "This is our first date."

Before Sakura could respond, a waiter walked up to them.

"I'm Kaz, and I'll be your waiter." He said. "Right this way."

Kaz led Sasuke and Sakura to their table. He gave them two menus.

"Would you two like to order drinks?" He asked.

"Um, what do you have?" Sakura asked.

"Sakura, instead of asking our good friend Kaz what they have to drink, why don't you simply look at the menu?" Sasuke suggested.

"I'm sorry." Sakura apologized.

"That's alright. If you're not ready, I'll come back." Kaz said, putting his order sheet in his pocket.

"Yeah, that'll be alright." Sasuke said as Kaz walked off. Sakura looked sad.

"I'm sorry Sasuke." She said.

"Don't worry." Sasuke responded, reaching across the table and putting his hand on her shoulder. He was right, Sakura was telling herself. Everything was alright.

"Are you alright?" Sasuke asked her. "You look…I don't know. Uneasy, maybe?"

"Yeah, I'm good."

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah." Sakura nodded. She felt a little bit uneasy, but mostly was ok with where she was. It had been a crazy day, from the moment it struck midnight, up until this very moment.

"That's good." Sasuke smiled. "I don't wanna ruin your first date."

Sakura had to smile at that. She was very happy, and felt really good. A few minutes later, Kaz came back to their table.

"Are you guys ready to order?" He asked.

"I think so." Sasuke said, looking at Sakura.

"I'm ready." Sakura said back to Sasuke.

"Alright then." Kaz said, pulling out his order sheet. "Ladies first."

"Thank you." Sakura nodded. "I'll just have the, um, oh gosh; I forget what I even decided on."

"Sakura, your short memory span is really annoying sometimes." Sasuke shook his head.

"Do you need a little more time to decide?" Kaz asked.

"No, give me a second. I'll remember it."

Sakura lowered her head, trying to quickly remember what she had decided she wanted, and so she wouldn't make Sasuke (and Kaz, for that matter) very angry.

"Oh yeah!" Sakura exclaimed, bringing her head back up.

"Yes?"

"I guess I'll just get the Penne Pasta dish, please." Sakura said.

"Ooh, fancy." Sasuke said.

"Alright." Kaz said, writing it down. "And what to drink?"

"What kind of drinks do you serve?"

"Well, we do serve wine and beer here." Kaz chuckled. "But you guys know better. We also have a few different types of soda, for people like you."

"What kind?"

"Sakura, our friend Kaz here might be in a hurry to get somewhere else, so please do pick it up." Sasuke encouraged.

"Oh, don't worry about me." Kaz said calmly. "I'm in no hurry."

"Yeah, Sasuke." Sakura glared at her date. "I'm in no hurry to get out of this place, and I don't see why you should be either."

"Sorry."

"Anyway," Kaz began. "What would you like to drink?"

Sakura looked at the list of non-alcoholic drinks. She ran her finger up and down it a few times before finally deciding on one.

"I'm just in the mood for water, so I'll have that." She said, looking at Kaz as she did.

Kaz wrote it down and turned to Sasuke.

"And you, sir?"

"Hmm." Sasuke thought for a second. "I'll have the same dish as her, but I'll have Pepsi to drink instead, please."

"Alright, then." Kaz said, writing down Sasuke's order. "I'll be back in a moment with your drinks."

Kaz walked away to get their drinks. It was nearing 8 by this point, and Sakura was happier than ever.

"Sasuke, I'm so excited!" Sakura exclaimed. "Our first date, and our meals are on the way!"

"I know. I can't believe it." Sasuke said.

2 or 3 minutes later, Kaz returned with their drinks. He handed Sakura's to her first, and then gave Sasuke his.

"Thank you." They said in unison.

"You're welcome. Your meals should be here soon, because after all, no-one waits too long at Dynamo's!"

Kaz walked off smiling.

"I guess that's their slogan?" Sakura asked.

"Beats me." Sasuke shrugged his shoulders.

"I just hope the food here tastes as good as it sounds."

"Yeah, me too."

"Sasuke, aren't you excited?" Sakura asked, noticing an odd tone in Sasuke's voice.

"Of course I am." Sasuke said. "But at the same time I'm nervous."

"Of course. When you're on your first date, you get nervous. You hope you don't do anything to screw it up, and you also hope that the food is good. Personally, I did feel nervous earlier, but I feel ok now."

"Yeah, I'm glad we finally are together on a date." Sasuke smiled, leaning over the table and kissing Sakura on the cheek.

"Sasuke!" Sakura was blushing.

"You'll be getting more of those later, I'm sure."

Sakura was still blushing when the food arrived a number of minutes later.

"Here are your…did I miss something?" Kaz asked, noticing Sakura's bright red face.

"Uh, not much." Sasuke said, looking confusedly at Sakura.

"You're still red in the face?"

"Huh? No I'm not." Sakura said, pretending she wasn't aware.

"Whatever you say, Sakura. Thank you, Kaz."

"You're welcome." Kaz said, handing the meals to Sakura and Sasuke. "Enjoy!"

"Thank you!" Sasuke and Sakura exclaimed in unison.

"Sasuke, this looks delicious!"

"I know." Sasuke said. "And we won't have to steal each other's food because we're having the same thing."

Sakura glared at him for a second, and then laughed. For really only the second time all day, she wasn't concerned about the time.

"Well, aren't you going to start eating?" Sakura asked, noticing Sasuke hadn't even lifted his fork.

"Oh please, ladies first." Sasuke motioned in her direction.

"You're so nice!" Sakura squealed, digging into her pasta.

"Ok, that was a little creepy." Sasuke said nervously before also digging into his food.

"Oh my God, Sasuke! What did they put in this pasta? It's delicious!"

"I don't know, but I can't stop eating it!"

Both Sasuke and Sakura went many minutes before stopping to sip their drinks. First Sasuke sipped his Pepsi, followed only seconds later by Sakura sipping her water.

"Oh man." Sasuke said, continuing to eat his pasta. "This stuff is so good, it's hard to believe."

Sasuke didn't immediately hear a response from Sakura. He lifted his head to look at her, and was very surprised to see her crying.

"Sakura, what's wrong?" He asked.

"Sasuke, I'm sorry." Sakura said through tears. "This day has been so great! And this food is amazing!"

(A/N: Yes, guys and gals. Even I have cried over good Italian food :-D)

Sakura lowered her head and cried into her napkin. Sasuke put a comforting hand on her head.

"I'm sorry for being like this, but I can't believe how good of a day I've have."

"I've had a good day too."

Sakura calmed down and continued to eat her pasta. Sasuke stared at her for a couple seconds to make sure she was ok, and then kept eating as well.

"Sasuke, do you think it was…I don't know, silly of me to cry like that?" Sakura asked, wanting his honest opinion.

"No, that wasn't silly." He said. "I would cry if I was having a day as good as you say you're having."

Sakura smiled at his response. A couple of minutes later, both of them finished their meals. Kaz walked up to the table.

"Well then, are you two finished?" He asked.

"Yes, we are." Sasuke responded. "It was quite good."

"Yes, it was." Sakura added.

"Alright then, who will I be giving the bill to?"

"That would be me." Sasuke said.

"Sasuke, are you sure?" Sakura asked.

"Yeah, I'm sure."

Kaz handed the bill to Sasuke.

"Phew!" Sasuke exclaimed, seeing the hefty total.

"Sasuke, if it's too much, I can help pay for it." Sakura offered. Sasuke put his hand up and reached into his pocket. He soon pulled out a large sum of money and handed it to Kaz.

"Wow, that's a lot of money." Kaz said, surprised by the amount had given him.

"Keep the change." Sasuke grinned.

"Wow, um, thank you." Kaz was taken aback by this.

"Not a problem. Thank you for your great service."

"You're welcome. You two have a good night."

"We will." Sakura said as she and Sasuke headed for the exit. They stepped out into the cold night air.

"Sasuke, that was so much fun! I mean, our first date! Wow!"

"I know. I had an amazing time."

It was about 8:45 now, but again Sakura wasn't paying attention to the clock. She was walking hand-in-hand with Sasuke down the moonlit streets of the village.

"So Sakura, I was wondering something." Sasuke broke the silence.

"Yeah?" Sakura asked.

"Do you want me to take you home? Or do you wanna go back to my place?"

Sakura looked at her watch.

"Hmm, I guess I'll go to your place for a while."

"Great." Sasuke said with a smirk on his face. Sakura didn't like that look he gave. It was after 9 when they got to his house. If Sakura's fate hadn't been changed, she had under three hours left. Sakura, though, was quite confident that her life would be extended.

"Ok Sasuke, we're at your house." Sakura began. "Now what do you wanna do?"

Sasuke said nothing, but just ran upstairs.

"What is he up to?"

Sakura headed up the stairs after her date.

"Sasuke, where are you?" She called.

"In here." Sasuke called from one of the bedrooms. Sakura walked into the room he had called from. She found him on the bed with no shirt on.

"Sasuke, what are you doing?" She asked him, quite confused by the scene in front of her.

"A better question would be, what should **we** be doing?" Sasuke asked in a suggestive tone. Sakura stopped and thought about something, and when she continued talking, her voice was raised and she sounded quite angry.

"Sasuke! How could you be thinking about something like that on our first date!?" She screamed at the top of her lungs.

"Oh, I'm sorry. How about we start slow?"

Sasuke got up from the bed and began walking toward Sakura.

"Get away from me you freak!" She yelled.

"Oh no, not until I kiss you!"

"Heh, if you think you're gonna steal my first kiss, you're too late." Sakura laughed. "That prized possession belongs to Naruto!"

Sasuke was stunned in silence. Sakura nodded in satisfaction.

"Now, if you don't mind." Sakura began, heading for the exit. "I'm leaving."

Sakura exited the bedroom. To think that Sasuke wanted to have sex on their first date…when they were still so young! What was going through his head? Sakura didn't care. Her great day had essentially been ruined.

"I can't believe him." Sakura said miserably as she walked home. She had been having a good time up to then, but now was so mad she could barely see straight. As she was approaching her house, Naruto jumped down from higher up and landed near her.

"Hey Sakura, how ya doing?" He asked. Sakura, as you could guess, said nothing.

"Is something wrong?"

Sakura began crying.

"What's up Sakura?" Naruto asked, concerned about his dear friend.

"Naruto, Sasuke was, he was acting…" Sakura couldn't get out the right words. Naruto hugged her.

"Shh, calm down. It's alright." He said soothingly into her ear.

"Sasuke was acting like a jerk. He wanted to have sex with me!"

Naruto's eyes glowed with fury. Sakura was scared. She feared that the Kyuubi would come out.

"That rat!" Naruto exclaimed.

"I hope you don't mind, but I'd like to go home." Sakura said, sad and angry at the same time.

"Alright. Good night, Sakura." Naruto said.

"Good night, Naruto." Sakura said, kissing him like earlier. She released him and headed in the direction of her home. She was almost out of earshot, when Naruto called back to her.

"He didn't hurt you, did he?"

"No, Naruto, he didn't." Sakura called back. Naruto gave a satisfied smile and went home.

"It's a good thing, too." Sakura said to herself. "Otherwise he'd be in a lot of trouble."

Sakura arrived home at about 9:40.

"What an idiot." She muttered to herself. "He ruined my whole day."

Sakura slinked into her house. She had actually forgotten all about her "fate."

"Man I'm tired." Sakura said as she headed upstairs. She changed out of her dress into her pajamas and hung her dress up.

"I'm basically ready for bed." Sakura said to herself as she stepped into the bathroom. About ten minutes later, she exited the bathroom and climbed into bed. It was almost 10 P.M. when she got into bed.

"Goodnight." Sakura said to nobody in particular. She turned off her lamp and soon fell asleep.

Began dream sequence

Sakura found herself in a strange room.

"Huh? Where am I?" She asked. There was nothing in the room but a chair.

"What the? That chair looks familiar."

Sakura walked behind the chair. When she came back around the front, somebody was sitting in the chair.

"You're…you're…"

"Hello there." A little girl was sitting in the chair. "You kind of look like me."

"You're…me?" Sakura asked in disbelief. A younger version of her was sitting in the chair. The chair looked familiar because it was her favorite chair when she was little.

"This is totally weird." Sakura said, putting her hands on her head.

"Do you feel alright?" Her younger self asked. "You look like you have a headache."

"I'm fine."

"Oh. Do you want to sit down?"

Sakura accepted the offer and took a seat next to her younger self.

"So, can you tell me why I'm here with you?" Sakura asked.

"I don't know." The younger Sakura said, deep in thought. "Maybe you can be my friend."

"Yeah, I think I'd like that."

Sakura grabbed the hand of her younger self.

"We can be friends." She said.

"That's nice." The younger Sakura said. "Because I don't have any friends."

"Why not?"

"Because," Younger Sakura began. "They all make fun of me for my…forehead!"

The younger Sakura began crying. Older Sakura hugged her.

"That's a stupid thing to get in the way of friendship." Sakura said.

"I know but, they make fun of me. They call me billboard brow. Especially Ino. I hate her!"

"I'm sure you'll learn to be friends with her." Sakura said. "She can't be that bad."

"You're smart." Younger Sakura said, hugging her older self.

"Thank you."

Sakura hugged her younger self tight as the dream faded away. It didn't feel like a particularly long dream, but when Sakura awoke, she found it was quite late.

"Huh? That sure was a weird dream." Sakura said as she sat up. "I wonder what it meant."

And then Sakura noticed something.

"Wait, it's still dark out!"

She then turned to the clock.

"It's 11:57!" She exclaimed. "Now I figure out what my fate truly is!"

Sakura decided that if these were her last few minutes, she would try and change that. She got out of her bed and knelt down on the floor.

"Alright, one last time. I did it once in the morning and once in the afternoon, so I will do it now!"

Sakura folded her hands once more. This time, she spoke aloud.

"Dear God, I just thank you for this great day you've given me!" She said in a strong voice, but not quite yelling.

"And I am confident that you will allow me to live on. I ask that you send your messenger Gabriel to relay your final message to me. Thank you. Amen!"

Sakura stood up, surprised at how easily that prayer came out.

"Alright! This is now out of my hands!" Sakura exclaimed

Tick, tick, tick

"Here it comes!"

Tick, tick, tick

"Any second now!"

Ding, ding, ding

It was midnight! A few seconds passed without event, which confused the heck out of Sakura.

"Well, I've survived beyond my last day." She laughed. A few seconds later, Gabriel appeared in her room.

"Hello, Sakura Haruno." He greeted her.

End of chapter 5

Please read and review, and expect the epilogue soon!


	6. Epilogue

Epilogue:

Yes, it's finally here. The epilogue for what is probably my longest Naruto story ever, and what is surely one of my best. One last time, I ask you to please read and review. So, without further ado, enjoy the epilogue!

Ah yes, epilogue time. It has reached midnight on what is (supposedly) Sakura's last day. She is prepared for anything, or at least so she thinks. Gabriel the angel, who first broke the news to her 24 hours ago, had more recently told her that her "fate" might be changed. It was but a matter of seconds before she knew for sure.

"Hello." Sakura said back to Gabriel. It was obvious that she was a little tense.

"Well, I have talked with my Lord, and sadly he has decided not to change his decision."

Sakura lowered her head in sadness.

"Well, at least I had a good last day…for the most part." She said.

"I'm really sorry Sakura. If it were up to me, I'd let you live."

Gabriel was completely honest. He did, in fact, want her to stay alive.

"Well then," Gabriel began. "Are you ready to come home?"

"Yes." Sakura said with her head down. Gabriel reached out and grabbed her hand.

"I hope you don't mind flying." He said as they stepped out through her window and flew off into the night.

"What's that light?" Sakura asked, noticing a glimmering light high up in the sky.

"That, Sakura, is our destination." Gabriel said as he led her higher and higher through the night sky. As they approached the light, Sakura felt scared.

"Gabriel, I'm scared." She said to him.

"Why is that? Heaven isn't something to be scared about." Gabriel reassured her. As they got really close to the light, Sakura again spoke up.

"I just wish I had been able to spend more time on Earth, with my friends." She said, tearing up a little.

"Don't worry. Heaven is a wonderful place."

Sakura looked happy when he said this. They were now just about to the light, when Gabriel turned to Sakura.

"Alright, Sakura, we're almost there." He said. "I have one last thing to say to you."

"What's that?" Sakura asked.

"It's time to get up!"

Sakura was utterly baffled.

"Wh…what?" She asked.

"Sakura, didn't you hear me? It's time to get up!"

There was a flash of light. Sakura awoke and found herself in her bed.

"Wait, where am I?" Sakura sounded hysterical. "I was just flying, and there was the angel, and he was holding my hand, and…"

Sakura looked up and saw her mom standing over her (A/N: Sorry about her not being mentioned up until now). She looked confused.

"Sakura, honey, what in the world are you talking about?"

"You mean this whole thing…was a dream?"

"It must've been." Sakura's mom said. Sakura looked over at her clock, which read 8:05 A.M.

"Then it was…"

Sakura gasped very loudly.

"Are you alright?" Her mom asked. Sakura jumped out of bed and hugged her mom.

"I love you mom." She said, burying her head in her mom's shoulder.

"What's this all about?"

"I'll tell you later." Sakura said, running into the bathroom. Her mom heard a flush and then running water, and Sakura ran out of the bathroom.

"I'm glad you got me up." Sakura said before she went downstairs. "I have training with my team at 8:30. I'll have to grab a quick breakfast, though."

Before her mom could say anything, Sakura flew down the stairs. She followed her daughter down, and found her eating a power bar.

"A power bar?" She asked. "It's been a while since you've eaten one of those."

"Yeah." Sakura smiled as she ate her power bar. When she finished it, she threw the wrapper in the trash and again ran upstairs. About 5 minutes later, she came back down in her everyday clothes.

"Bye mom." She said, kissing her mom on the cheek. "I'll see you later."

"Bye dear." Her mom said. "Don't train too hard."

"Mom, do I ever train too hard?"

Sakura headed out the door. Her mom watched her leave and sighed.

"Well, I guess I must have been dreaming." Sakura said, quite happy that she was alive. It was a beautiful day out, and she was ready to get some training done.

"And maybe Sasuke will go on a date with me!" She happily exclaimed. Now she had a jump in her step as she approached the training grounds. When she arrived there, she was confused. Well, first of all, **Kakashi was there**!

"What…the…freak?"

And second of all, Naruto wasn't.

"Kakashi-Sensei, where's Naruto?" She asked.

"Huh?" Kakashi said, looking up from his book. "I don't know."

"The idiot must be late." Sasuke said.

"My God! Sasuke actually **said** something?"

Kakashi and Sakura burst out laughing. For Sakura, it felt good to laugh, even at Sasuke's expense, because she knew that she wasn't dying.

"I hope Naruto gets here soon." Sakura said. "I wanna talk to him."

"Why?" Kakashi asked.

"Oh, because."

Kakashi shook his head. Naruto arrived a few minutes later.

"I'm ready to train, you guys!" He exclaimed. Kakashi laughed, Sakura smiled and Sasuke turned his head.

"Wow, I'm not the last one here." Kakashi chuckled. "Alright, let's train!"

All four of them drew their kunai. Two hours of training almost nonstop later, they were all quite worn out. That is, except for Kakashi.

"Good training, you guys. I have another place to be, so I'll be leaving." Kakashi said, disappearing.

"Yeah, I guess I'll be going too." Sasuke said in a low voice. Surprisingly, Sakura didn't follow him. Maybe she was still mad at him for something he didn't do.

"Bye Sakura!" Naruto exclaimed.

"Wait up, Naruto!" Sakura yelled. He turned back around.

"What's up?"

Sakura looked around for a second, and then focused her attention on her blonde-haired teammate.

"Um, well Naruto, it may seem like I'm always talking about Sasuke…"

Naruto rudely cut her off.

"Gee, you actually noticed that too?" Naruto frowned.

"Well, yes, I wasn't like, high on him or anything." Sakura said.

"Well what would you call it then? Were you stalking, hounding, following, trailing or anything term for following him?"

"Not…quite. But I was obsessed with him."

Naruto rolled his eyes.

"The point is, I really feel like I haven't focused much on you since we became a team. You're my teammate, and I care about you."

Naruto brightened up.

"You really do Sakura?" Naruto asked.

"Yeah, I do." Sakura responded. "I had a very long and detailed dream last night, and in it…well, I gave you your first kiss."

Naruto almost fell over at hearing this. He had a crush on Sakura, and hearing her say that they kissed in her dream almost killed him.

"Are you alright, Naruto?" Sakura asked, concerned about her friend.

"No, I'm fine." Naruto said, looking down.

"Are you sure? Something seems to be bothering you."

In her dream, everyone (especially Naruto) was concerned about Sakura. This time, it was a reversal of roles.

"Well, something is bothering me." Naruto began, looking back up at Sakura. "But it's kinda hard for me to say."

"Naruto," Sakura said, hugging him. "I'm sad that something is bothering you."

"Do you want to know what it is?"

"Yeah."

"Well, you see." Naruto began, struggling to find the right words. "Um, well…"

Naruto twiddled his thumbs. Sakura looked right in his eyes.

"Sakura, I love you!" Naruto suddenly exclaimed, catching Sakura completely off guard.

"You…what?" Sakura asked. "What did you say?"

"Sakura, I'm in love with you! I've been in love with since we became part of team seven. I just figured that since I have the Kyuubi inside of me, and since Sasuke's on our team, you wouldn't care about me."

Sakura instinctively looked at her watch, and then remembered that this wasn't her dream anymore. It was 10:35 in the morning, but really it didn't matter.

"Naruto, you fool, of course I care about you. We're teammates and we're friends."

Naruto looked at her.

"You wanna know something?" She asked.

"What?" Naruto asked back.

"I'm in love with you too."

Naruto collapsed to the ground, probably due to complete and utter shock.

"Naruto?"

No response.

"Naruto!"

Naruto suddenly stood back up.

"Hehe, I'm just fooling with ya, Sakura!" He laughed. Sakura playfully smacked him, and then hugged him.

"Wait." Naruto began. "Since we're in love with each other, doesn't that mean we…"

Before Naruto could finish his sentence, Sakura kissed him. Now he really got his first kiss from Sakura!

"I love you Naruto." Sakura said softly into his ear.

"I love you too, Sakura." Naruto responded. As the two kissed again, the view zoomed up into a tree, and standing in the tree watching the two kiss was none other than Gabriel the angel!

"All a part of your plan!" He laughed, looking upward. "All a part of your plan!"

As Gabriel floated up towards Heaven, he couldn't help but laughing. Of course, this was happy laughter. So it seems this whole thing was God's plan to get Naruto and Sakura to fall in love, and maybe, just maybe, to show Sakura a few things: The fact that Naruto really is a nice guy, the fact that Sasuke is (or might be) a total jerk, and one last thing…

You never know when you'll have just one day to live!

The end!

Well, this surely is a weight off my shoulders. Now that this is finished, I only have one more Naruto story to finish. After that, who knows? Maybe I'll write one or two more Naruto stories, or maybe I'll write some more Eureka Seven stories, or maybe I'll stop writing altogether. We'll see in the very near future.

So, I say to you all, goodnight, and thank you for reading my story. Keep on writing!

Who were the Precursors


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